Identify and connect all visuals. If possible, identify the etymological significance of the connect. The etymology is in an Indian language and unless you know the language, it is probably hard to get that part of the connect.
Answer: The ship is the SMS Emden which bombed Madras during World War I. She had a much romanticized history of sinking or capturing nearly 30 allied warships before being run aground (the visual shows the grounded ship). The second visual shows some of the unexploded shells that are on display in the Madras museum. The third visual is Champakaram Pillai, the second in command on the German ship who sided with the Germans during WWI against the British Raj. His volunteer force was supposedly Subash Chandra Bose's inspiration for the INA. He was also the Prime Minister of the short lived Provincial Government of India which was based out of Afghanisthan. He was either poisoned or tortured to death by the Nazis in 1934. To this day, a sneaky street-smart person is referred to in Tamil and Malayalam(?) as an Emden. Manix and Keshav got it. Well done.
Answer: The ship is the SMS Emden which bombed Madras during World War I. She had a much romanticized history of sinking or capturing nearly 30 allied warships before being run aground (the visual shows the grounded ship). The second visual shows some of the unexploded shells that are on display in the Madras museum. The third visual is Champakaram Pillai, the second in command on the German ship who sided with the Germans during WWI against the British Raj. His volunteer force was supposedly Subash Chandra Bose's inspiration for the INA. He was also the Prime Minister of the short lived Provincial Government of India which was based out of Afghanisthan. He was either poisoned or tortured to death by the Nazis in 1934. To this day, a sneaky street-smart person is referred to in Tamil and Malayalam(?) as an Emden. Manix and Keshav got it. Well done.
3 comments:
(1) SMS Emden, (2) Champakaraman Pillai, anti-imperialist and freedom fighter, and the ship's engineer who allegedly directed the attack on Madras, and finally (3) the unexploded shells of Emden on display in Madras. The etymological connect: an obnoxious and street smart person is called an ‘emden’ in 60s Tamil slang.
Also, when the Emden attacked Madras, the NY Times reported, "The whole engagement lasted 15 minutes. There was little or no excitement and only 3 Indians were killed"!!!
The NYT continues to this day, in the same imperial reporting style about the Third World!
Side note: When I was real young :-) I remember seeing the 1954 hit movie Andha Naal. It was the first Tamil movie with no songs! It was based on the Japanese aerial bombing of Madras in WW2. But for some reason I associated the Emden bombing with this movie. However there is a strange connect... the Sivaji Ganesan character in the movie is a spy for the Japs, similar to Champakaram Pillai! Maybe Balachander made the connect while creating this character :-)
'emden' a german submarine that bombed chennai during wwii. old buggers who ought not to be messed with are often referred to as emden( lots of folk in my family qualify). madras tamizh vaazhga.
sorry that was world war 1. incidentally r.k. narayan has written a short story( malgudi days) called emden about an old, senile man.
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